John Wesley Jeffries, person of interest in deaths of Nelson and Ethel Slack

FAUQUIER COUNTY, Va. (WUSA9) -- Police want to talk to a convicted sex offender about the death of an elderly married couple in Fauquier County. Eighty-year-old Nelson Slack and his 74-year-old wife Ethel were found with trauma to their upper bodies inside their home on Sunday, say officials.

Lt. James Hartman of the Fauquier County Sheriff's Office said deputies arrived at the house at 7282 Bunker Hill Road for a welfare check when they found Nelson and Ethel Slack deceased.

Lt. Hartman said friends called authorities when they did not see the married couple at church. The couple had not been heard from for about 24 hours, according to officials.

When police got to the home they found it was locked and the car was not in the driveway, according to authorities. Police say they had information that the Slacks may have left home early for a pre-planned trip but when deputies came back to the house at 1:15 p.m. with family members who had a key to the house, the key did not work. Deputies then had to force entry into the house through a window, according to authorities. Deputies then found the couple deceased.

Later, their car was found nearby the home, say deputies.

Sixty-year-old John Wesley Jeffries is a person of interest in the case. He is wanted by the Spotsylvania County Sheriff's Office for crimes such as abduction, strangling and malicious wounding, deputies said. He is also entered as a sexually violent offender and he is considered armed and dangerous, deputies said.

Police say Jeffries may have ties to the neighborhood and may have known the Slacks.

Neighbors say they were good people and are in shock over the news. The husband and wife lived in the area for decades.

An autopsy is scheduled for Monday at the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Prince William County.

Crime scene investigators from Virginia State Police and the sheriff's office are investigating the deaths. They are the first and second murders in Fauquier County for 2013.

If you come in contact with Jeffries call 911 immediately. If you have any information on the Slacks' deaths, you can call the Fauquier County Sheriff's Office at 540-347-3300; Fauquier County Crime Solvers at 540-349-1000 or the Spotsylvania County Sheriff's Office.